


Volcanic Wood and a Pliable Figure

by onoheiwa



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Canon Compliant, Humor, I Blame Tumblr, I Don't Even Know, M/M, Silly, shenanigans ensue, the 104th is bored, the floor is lava
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-06
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-08-29 12:12:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8489188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onoheiwa/pseuds/onoheiwa
Summary: He heard muffled shouting coming through the walls as he approached his dorm, the housing unit that just so happened to end up containing the current top male members of the 104th squadron. Someone inside was saying something like “this is so stupid, there has to be a better way test our coordination after dark” accompanied by the low sounds of Marco chuckling and Bertholdt muttering softly that he actually thought it was pretty fun. In confusion, Reiner opened the door and froze in shock at the sight inside, stopping with his foot mere inches from the floor and his hand still gripping the doorknob, and looked around with raised brows.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This started from just trying to fill this [prompt](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/79/24/fd/7924fd13b97a87b0e6a718fad02fd006.jpg) I found on from Tumblr via Pinterest. 
> 
> But I wanted it to be Reicon. I really had no ultimate goal in mind, just wanted some Reicon, so what happened pretty much just came out of nowhere from the weird recesses of my mind. I suck at humor, so please tell me if this falls horribly flat.

Reiner finished scrubbing the sweat out of his hair and off his neck and rubbed down with one of the towels that always hung by the sinks in the bathhouse. The fabric was scratchy but clean and it smelled like springtime - liquid and green and alive. He inhaled deeply for a moment before hanging it neatly back on its hook and walking out into the open air. 

The sun had sunk below the horizon a few minutes earlier allowing dusk to settle over the training grounds in dim hues of blue and purple and orange. A few clouds overhead still shone like fire in the last traces of light but down on the ground there were shadows everywhere. As he passed the mess hall, Reiner could hear faint sounds of chattering and clinking dishes as the cooks cleaned up from the long day and prepped for tomorrow’s breakfast. Bright candle light flooded the ground below the windows of the mess hall, the COs’ headquarters, the munitions shed, the officers’ barracks, the laundry, the outhouses. Tiny squares of gold that lit the way as Reiner headed to the back trainees’ barracks for the night, the last to return after staying late for stable duty.

He heard muffled shouting coming through the walls as he approached his dorm, the housing unit that just so happened to end up containing the current top male members of the 104th squadron. Someone inside was saying something like “this is so stupid, there has to be a better way test our coordination after dark” accompanied by the low sounds of Marco chuckling and Bertholdt muttering softly that he actually thought it was pretty fun.

In confusion, Reiner opened the door and froze in shock at the sight inside, stopping with his foot mere inches from the floor and his hand still gripping the doorknob, and looked around with raised brows.

Bertl and Marco were standing next to one another on the bunk closest to the door, feet on the bottom bed and hands gripping the frame of the upper level to keep from falling off. Jean was currently bracing his hands against the ceiling while attempting to step across the wide, open space between two beds, grumbling loudly the whole time. Eren was sitting on top of one of the ladders with his chin braced in one of his hands, offering unhelpful suggestions and looking fairly lazy in general but his turquoise eyes were shimmering with excitement and energy. Armin was, rather surprisingly, also participating in whatever shenanigans were currently ensuing and was walking along the bed frames, his hands walking one over the other to keep him upright. There were a few other trainees in similar variations of observation and odd methods of traveling around the room, some laughing and goofing around, others with faces screwed up in concentration.

And Connie. Oh Connie. The likely mastermind and instigator to whatever the hell was going on was at the far end of the room stretched precariously with each leg on a bed on either side of the aisle, arms waving about to help him balance and a mild expression of panic. Thomas was curled up on the bunk where Connie’s left foot was braced, laughing hysterically every time he glanced up and saw the baldy’s predicament while Mylius was on the bed above trying to get Connie to let him take his hand and help him across. Connie was, of course, refusing the assistance and seemed to be gearing himself up to try and launch himself over so he could grab the bed frame that was currently beyond reach with how far his legs were stretched out, nearly parallel to the floor.

“...the hell?” Reiner said, his deep voice carrying farther and louder into the room then he intended and suddenly drawing all attention to himself where he stood frozen in the doorway. Several people called out greetings, a soft “Hey” from Bertl leading the blond to give a half-hearted nod in that direction, but his eyes were still glued to the far end of the room.

“Reiner!” Connie called out, his face breaking into a broad grin.

“You wanna tell me what the hell you’re doing?” Reiner asked, brow raised and crossing his arms over his chest.

Connie threw his arms out in a broad gesture to encompass the surrounding space and smiled. “The floor his lava!”

“...What?” Reiner asked.

It was Eren who answered, his bored tone not matching the expression on his face. “The floor is lava. It was Marco’s idea, actually.”

Reiner turned to look at the freckled boy who was scrubbing at his neck with his free hand, his left still supporting him where he stood on the bunk to the left of the door.

“Well, sort of,” Marco said. “Connie suggested that we find some way to fill up some time in the evenings with extra training, something to test our agility or flexibility or strength and whatnot, but there’s not much we can do after dinner since we can’t leave the barracks.” He shrugged and glanced around the room with a fond smile. “And I remembered this game I used to play back in Jinae when I was a kid.”

“Which would be…?” Reiner asked.

Mylius spoke up from the end of the room where he was still trying to grab Connie’s errant hand and pull him into the bed. “It doesn’t really have a name. You pretend the floor is made of lava so you can’t touch it or you die. Well, lose, since it’s just a game, but you get the point. Then you just climb all over the room across the furniture and stay off the floor the whole time.”

“I still don’t really see the point in all this,” Jean said, irritated and finally across the space he had been traversing.

Despite all of their agility gained through the use of the 3DM gear and their increased flexibility, some of the spaces between bunks were rather wide and from the unkempt clothing and blooming red marks on several trainees it seemed this whole “the floor is lava” thing was more difficult than it first appeared. Connie’s rather precarious position seemed a perfect example. He was still stuck in the same spot and the sweat rolling down the side of his face spoke to just how long he had been stuck. Reiner thought he could see the younger man’s legs trembling.

“Oh come on Jean, don’t be such a killjoy,” Eren said. “You’re just upset cuz Marco’s better at it than you.”

While Jean spluttered indignantly and started shouting at Eren, Reiner turned to Marco again, who shrugged with a vague smile. “Like I said, I played it a lot as a kid. It takes a different kind of strength and balance than 3DM gear.” He looked over his shoulder and grinned at the gentle giant who stood at his back. “Besides, Bertl’s got us all beat, what with his long limbs. This is easy for him.”

“Meanwhile...” Armin said from somewhere off to the right where he was sitting at the edge of one of the upper bunks kicking his feet, “there is Connie and I, who both have a significantly lower advantage.” He grinned in amusement and tilted his head back toward the other boy.

Connie had his face pinched in concentration, brows furrowed in a rare scowl. He had somehow managed to get his right foot stretched onto his toes which gave him just enough reach to grip the bed frame with the very tips of his fingers, but the change in position seemed even more strenuous and his body was visibly shaking from the effort. Reiner watched as his fingers slowly slipped from the bed, the only real anchor the boy had left, and looked on as dawning horror spread across Connie’s face as he fell to the floor. He landed in a sprawl, the thud echoing around the room followed by a long groan and a muttered “I think I broke my ass.”

It was silent for a long moment before first Eren, then Thomas, then half the room erupted into laughter. Even Bertholdt was chuckling quietly as Reiner strode down the aisle to where Connie was still spilled out on the floor with his eyes shut. He stretched out his hand to pull the boy up, suppressing a chuckle but unable to stop the amused smile that twinkled in his eyes and pulled at his lips. “Come on Con-man, up you get.”

Connie cracked open an eye and looked at Reiner’s hand speculatively. “What do I get out of it?” he asked.

“I don’t know, some of your dignity back?” Reiner said, grinning.

Connie sighed dramatically and threw his arm over his eyes. “That sounds exhausting. I think I’d rather just lie here and die.”

Reiner laughed at that, head thrown back and his eyes were twinkling when he finally looked back down at the boy who had opened his eyes and was grinning up him. “Okay, if that’s what you want,” Reiner said, “but I hear we’re having eggs with breakfast tomorrow and if you’re dead Sasha will eat your share.”

About ten other people had overhead that last statement and they all bombarded Reiner with questions, pulling his attention away and almost drowning out Connie’s “what, seriously?” A hand gripping his own brought his gaze back down to where Connie had finally sat up and grabbed his hand, letting the larger boy pull him into a standing position.

Reiner dropped his hand and looked around at the others, nodding. “Yeah, I overheard the cooks talking when I was on my way back from the stables.” He turned back to Connie as the others whooped and started chattering excitedly. “I’d get there early if I were you, so no dying.”

Connie stiffened into an exaggerated salute, a silly grin plastered to his face. “Yes sir! Oh, hey, since I’m out of the game now will you walk with me to the outhouse, I forgot to go before coming back here and if I get caught by Shadis I want someone he likes with me.”

Reiner raised a brow, curious. “And you think Shadis likes me?”

“Yeah he does!” Connie said. “Maybe not as much as he likes Marco but he definitely likes you more than he likes me.”

“Maybe that’s because you and Sasha are always goofing off during training,” Reiner said, looking at the smaller boy in amusement.

Connie rolled his eyes and shoved at Reiner’s arm. “Obviously! I know that, but like I said, he likes you. Maybe he won’t be as mad at me for leaving the barracks after dark if you come with me.”

Reiner shook his head, grinning. “Whatever you say, man. Alright, yeah, I’ll go with you.”

Connie’s smile was blinding and reminded Reiner of why he spent so much time around the little ball of manic, crazy energy. Connie could do some utterly ridiculous things, especially if Sasha were around to encourage it, but no one in the 104th was as upbeat and cheerful or as fiercely loyal to their friends as he was. Reiner hadn’t really been surprised when he realized he had begun to develop feelings for the boy that were a little bit more than simple friendship. Connie was a bright spark, a warm light in an ugly, dangerous world that never dimmed or tried to hide itself. He was unendingly optimistic and even when mucking out stalls for the fifth day in a row as punishment for another prank gone afoul he never stopped grinning and finding ways to entertain everyone within sight. Except for Shadis, even the other officers had a hard time getting upset with him for goofing off because he always so entertaining and childishly gleeful while doing so; it wasn’t easy to be angry with someone who was so genuinely happy and fun-loving.

But that didn’t mean that Connie couldn’t be serious if the situation called for it, something Reiner had witnessed a couple of months prior when Nac and Franz had both come down with some nasty colds. Everyone thought it would be Marco or even Armin who would go out of their way to deliver food, bring in clean bedding, and periodically stop in at the sick house to check in on the boys. But it was almost always Connie who snuck off to check in on them, sometimes sitting at their bedsides all evening telling them how Krista had shown up to breakfast a little pale prompting all the cooks to rush out bowls of fresh fruit and berries to make sure everyone was getting the vitamins and sugars they needed for energy; that Eren had actually figured out a new 3DM gear maneuver before Jean and lorded it over him the rest of the day; how Sasha had found a family of muskrats living in the creek nearby and drug people off in groups of threes and fours to lie in the grass and watch the babies play in the water; that Bertholdt had finally agreed to fight Annie and had her pinned in less than a minute.

Whenever someone wasn’t quite feeling like themselves it was always Connie that noticed first; he was always the quickest to forgive if someone got uncharacteristically angry and said something cruel, always the one that tried to understand what the person was going through before making judgments. He cared about people, understood they way they thought and felt - that was where all his brain power was directed and that was way he wasn’t always the quickest in the classroom, Reiner thought; he spent all his energy and thoughts on other people. It’s hard not to love someone with a heart like that.

The two of them had made it out of the dorm and were traveling carefully through the quiet camp, sliding through the shadows and checking around carefully before crossing open spaces. They went off to one of the more remote corners, a section of the housing with empty barracks that was devoid of anything but moonlight and the whisper of the evening breeze. Connie grabbed hold of Reiner’s hand and drug him into the shadows of one of the buildings, letting the larger boy box him in against the wall. His hands gripped the front of Reiner’s shirt and looked up at him with a grin.

“Think everyone else fell for it?” he asked.

“Probably, but only if we come back in a timely manner,” Reiner said, leaning in to nuzzle at Connie’s neck. His nibbled at the flesh along his shoulder, lips mouth gently and smiled to himself when Connie stiffened.

“Y-yeah?” Connie asked. “I guess we shouldn’t take too long, then.” He squirmed a bit, fists tightening in Reiner’s shirt as his breathing sped up a bit.

Reiner leaned in slowly to press their bodies together, close but not tight, just hovering over the smaller boy’s frame, and moved up to Connie’s ears. “You sure you can handle it? I would think your legs and ass would be pretty sore after that incident in the dorm just a little while ago.”

Connie huffed, but it sounded more impatient than irritated, especially since he was desperately trying to pull Reiner’s bulky frame closer and kept making this hitching little breaths with each one of Reiner’s nips to his neck and jaw. “Whatever, man, I’m fine,” he said. “The only thing I hurt was my ego, you know that.”

Reiner only hummed in response. He knew  _ very _ well just tough Connie’s body was, how strong and flexible ODM training had made him. If only he had enough time tonight to really enjoy it. He worked his way back up Connie’s neck and jaw and stopping to whisper in his ear, voice low and greedy. “You looked so damn hot stretched out like that across the beds, legs spread wide open. I’m gonna have some fun with that next time,” he said, pleased with the shiver that ran through Connie’s body. He planted a gentle kiss against the corner of his mouth and pulled back to smile down at him.

Connie was plastered against the wall, face flushed and his grip on Reiner’s shirt had loosened. His eyes opened lazily but they were burning with heat when they locked with Reiner’s. “I’ll take that as a promise,” he said.

Reiner grinned and stepped back after a moment, holding out his hand for the smaller boy to grab and they headed back to the dorm before anyone got suspicious. They could always come back to this another day.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](onoheiwa.tumblr.com).


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